BANGKOK, Nov 20 - A grenade attack on anti-government protesters occupying the Thai prime minister’s office killed one person and wounded at least 23 early Thursday, an army official and protesters said.
The protesters have occupied the Government House compound since August and refuse to leave until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns or is overthrown. The protest movement has been the focus of several small bomb and grenade attacks, but Thursday’s was the first deadly assault at the compound.
The explosion occurred shortly after 3am while a band performed onstage on the front lawn outside the prime minister’s office, said Amorn Amornratamanon, one of the protest leaders. The grenade landed on a giant tent near the stage that was sheltering dozens of people, he said.
“I was listening to the music when I heard a big bang. I ran to the stage and turned back to see several people lying on the ground,” said Wimonwan Pranratsmee, a 42-year-old woman who was among the wounded.
Army Gen. Prathomphong Kesornsuk, who was at the scene, said the device was an M-79 grenade that was fired by a grenade launcher from a nearby building.
The protesters, calling themselves the People’s Alliance for Democracy, have vowed not to leave the grounds of Government House until the allies of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra are removed from power. Somchai is Thaksin’s former brother-in-law and protesters call him Thaksin’s proxy. Somchai has been forced to operate out of a makeshift office at Bangkok’s old international airport.
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup that followed protests led by the same alliance, a mix of activists, wealthy and middle-class urban residents and royalists.
Thaksin was accused of corruption and abuse of power. A Thai court handed down Thaksin’s first conviction last month and sentenced him in absentia to two years in prison for violating a conflict of interest law while in office. Thaksin, who is living in exile, is in Dubai.
The occupation of Government House has paralysed the government and last month sparked the country’s worst political violence in 16 years.
Two protesters were killed and more than 470 injured when anti-government protesters and riot police clashed outside Parliament on Oct 7.
A street clash between government supporters and opponents in September left one person dead and several more hurt.
The political unrest briefly paused for the six-day funeral of Princess Galyani Vadhana, the elder sister of Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The blast came just hours after the official mourning period ended at midnight Wednesday. - AP
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